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It’s National Crayon Day!
March 31, 2023
It’s National Crayon Day!
Though crayons were not invented in America, the ubiquitous Crayola crayon is a purely American invention. These crayons were invented in Easton, Pennsylvania in 1902 by Edwin Binney and C. Harold Smith, cousins and founders of the Binney & Smith Co. Their coloring sticks – made of a nontoxic paraffin wax – were colorful, affordable, and popular for children.
Soon Edwin’s wife, Alice, coined the now prevalent name for the invention – “crayolas” from the French “craie” (which means “chalk”) plus “oleaginous” (a word which means “oily”).
The first box of Crayola crayons included eight colors – red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet, brown, and black. Since then, Crayola has produced over 600 more shades (!)
Children painting spring flowers, Viggo Johansen, 1894
-Written by Anna Zemaitaitis, Communications and Design Officer
